Message from the Center Director

Thank you for visiting our website. With many updates to the site in recent months, I invite you to spend some time to learn about our research contributions to healthy and active aging and prevention of age-related diseases.

2013 was an impressive year for research at the center and recognition of scientists’ expertise in the form of awards, nominations to key national and international professional and policy making committees, and publications. We also continued making strides forward in translating our research to the public.

Adding to the ways in which we translate our science into practice while giving back to the community, we installed a community garden in our lobby in partnership with the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. The garden allows viewers to witness food production and learn more about the vitamins and nutrients in each vegetable planted. Harvests are donated to the St. Francis House in Boston. As part of the same partnership, we continue to hold the Talk and Taste Public Lecture Series.. Occurring 4 times per year, the series joins an HNRCA scientist, a local chef and a master gardener to educate attendees on plant and nutrition science and cooking. I invite you to join us for one in the future.

Adhering to our commitment to education we continue to host our Monday Seminar Series (among others), which brings in an impressive group of presenters for faculty and students to learn from and interact with.

We have exciting plans in our research foci this year. We will be looking at fetal programming and genetics, taking innovative approaches in the study of neurobiology, furthering the understanding of interplay between nutrition, microbiome and diseases of aging, advancing nutrition and vision research, increasing focus on the global epidemic of obesity, and incorporating the use of data mapping in our research.

The World Health Organization predicts that by the year 2050, there will be 395 million people living to be 80 years old. It is clear that our area of study is fulfilling a great global need. I am looking forward to a year that will no doubt be full of exciting growth.